What time do you start bedtime routine?

[carmen358]

DD is almost 10 months old and for the last week has been crazy in the evenings. I always worry she isn't getting enough sleep because she seems so tired all the time after about 4pm. She still naps 3 times a day most days but for a total of usually 2 - 2 1/2 hours max. She only naps in 30 minute cycles even if I nap with her. She is in bed 10-12 hours at night but wakes every 2 hours or so...sometimes more *zzzz*

Anyway, the last few nights she has been almost inconsolable by about 5 or 6 pm. We usually do dinner, bath, bed starting at about 6 and she usually falls asleep within about 5 minutes (nursing) around 8. I just go to bed with her (we cosleep and have since birth) because of how frequent she wakes. Tonight I tried to start the night routine earlier in the hopes that it would be better but for 3 nights she has had a fit when we try and give her a bath!

I'm wondering, should I be starting even earlier?? Could it be related to teething?? I feel terrible about it because it's so traumatic and seems like a terrible way to end the day. Is she getting enough sleep?

[colsxjack]

At that age we were down to 2 naps a day. Each being about 40-60 minutes. When she was on 3 naps they were about 20-30 minutes each.

We would do the first nap about 2 hours after her waking. The 2nd nap about 3 1/2 hours after waking from 1st. And then bedtime about 4 or so hours after waking from 2nd nap.

We wouldn't do the bedtime routine until after dinner was over and there was some quieter play or relaxing. Then the routine would start about 20-30 minutes before putting her to sleep. Sometimes bath (not every night), books, bf, rock to sleep.
She would go down and sleep about 40-80 minutes before waking the 1st time. Then back to sleep for 90 minutes and up every 90-120 minutes for rest of night.

She got into the routine and seemed less tired after going down to 2 better naps a day. On three naps she didn't sleep as well. On two naps she def. started to get better full sleep cycles in.

[carmen358]

Hmm maybe she's trying to get some to 2 naps then. Naps are usually 2 hours after waking (30-45 minutes) (she is usually up at 8) then she almost always falls asleep in the car around 1pm for 30 minutes and then wants another nap around 4pm. I wonder if the 1pm nap should be longer at home in bed. If she only sleeps for 30 minutes though I'm not sure she would make it until 7pm for bed.

[colsxjack]

Maybe try to push her second nap to a little later?
If she falls asleep in the car around 1pm then try not being in the car and doing something a little more stimulating or interactive with her? Maybe she is bored at the time and sleep happens?

Maybe try pushing it until about 2ish and see if she sleeps longer. And then after you can push it to 2 then try 2:30? After a few days she may have a longer first nap and a longer second nap and then be able to last until 7pm.

Although. We were/are horrible at trying to push DD onto a schedule. We did and do what we do because it seems to be her natural schedule. We did push her a bit and help her get down to one nap a day. And not she sleep from 1.5 - 2 hours at one stretch during the day.

Good luck.

[carmen358]

Good suggestion. I'll try that. We have never really "imposed" a schedule at all...she seems to want to nap 3 times a day but always seems tired. I think the underlying thing is that she just doesn't nap long enough so two naps hasn't worked in the past *sigh* I will try the keeping her active until 2 or 3 and see how we go!

[Tattooed Hand]

Your DD sounds just like mine. I read in the NCSS that any nap less than an hour doesn't count because they don't make it through the sleep cycle. I think we are transitioning to 1 nap a day. Some days she refuses to nap in the morning and I put her down at noonish, where she'll sleep 1.5-2 hours and some days she'll sleep for 2 1-hour naps. But she wakes every 30 minutes, unless I stay in the bed with her and shush her down before she fully wakes up. The NCSS says if you do this for a week, they'll stop waking at that 30 minute mark, but no luck for us yet.

I also began letting her go to sleep at 6 or 6:30 but because she is teething, she would wake up after 9 hours, when she had gotten enough sleep - which was at 3 or 4 am! It's kind of awful, I can't get her to sleep enough during the day or to get her to sleep late enough at night.